Dates: Jun 2017

 

Route: Drove from Sicily.

 

Tropea was one of those random towns that ended up being a hidden diamond. We were to drive from Cefalù in Sicily to our villa in Praiano in the Amalfi coast and needed a place to stop for the night as the drive was ~9 hours. Looking at random towns on maps, we stumbled upon a beach that looked nice next to a town called Tropea, which was about halfway. We booked a hotel there and quickly forgot about it as we were focused on our Sicily holiday. After an amazing time in Sicily, we had no expectations of Tropea as it was a place to sleep for the night. Google Maps also misled us, so we lost an hour getting to it. We got there just as the sun was setting, and after a quick dinner, we went off to bed.

 

The next morning, refreshed, we set off to explore the town on a perfect, sunny morning. Our first view of the water made up stop and wonder how the hell we could have stumbled on such a gem on blind luck. The view from the terrace in old town looking down onto the beach was stunning beyond words. Watch our drone video here to understand why. Perched high upon ancient cliffs, the old town of Tropea overlooks a pristine white-sand beach that is gently kissed by the turquoise  waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The water was so clear that it made it look like the people and boats were floating. The long, main, crescent-shaped beach contains a rocky hilltop on its western side topped by the Santuario di Santa Maria dell'Isola, an old monastery that is accessible only by climbing steep stairs carved directly into the cliff. The sea just in front of the rocky outcropping also has an artistic reef structure and makes for great swimming.

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The old town of Tropea is the same as most other European cities, quaint and medieval. While beautiful, there is nothing extraordinary or remarkable about it. Tropea is about the beach and the sea and everything else is a bonus. Speaking of bonus, we found many other small, secluded beaches that lie below the sheer cliffs which stretch some miles to the east and north. We unfortunately did not have time to explore the area but will come back to truly enjoy the beach and sea.

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(Click on gallery images below for details)